Vapor bath cabinet



'May 2, 1939- H. w. KNocHE VAPOR BATH CABINET Filed June 16. 1937 Patented May 2, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VAPOR BATH CABINET Henry W. Knoche, St. Paul, Minn.

Application June 16, 1937, Serial No. 148,432

or gliders I9 are placed at the bottom of the cabinet so it can be easily moved across the floor.

The side wall 6 has formed therein in its lower portion groups of slotted openings and 2l. These openings communicate with a vaporizing chamber indicated generally at V. Extending vertically at the sides of the slotted openings 2i? and 2l is a pair of slide elements 22 which may be welded to the outer surface of the side 6 and is provided with oppositely disposed offset portions as best shown in Fig. 3. chamber includes a box like structure 23 which is open along the side adjacent the slotted openings 2i! and 2l and is provided with a pair of outwardly projecting tongues 2li, these tongues being adapted to slide down behind the offset portions of the slide elements 22. vaporizing chamber may be additionally supported by a shelf 25 whose inner edge is provided with pins 26, which extend through openings in a piece of angle iron 23, the latter being horizontally secured to the side of the cabinet. A brace 28 is adapted to support the shelf at its outer edge and this brace may be hinged at 29 and its opposite end provided with a reduced end 3i), which may t into an aperture in the cabinet side Therefore, by merely lifting the shelf and vaporizing chamber upwardly the brace 23 will slip out of the aperture of the side of the cabinet and the tongues 24 canY be moved upwardly out of engagement with the sliding elements 22 quickly and easily detaching the projecting vaporizing chamber as a unit.

Within the vaporizing chamber V is a heater SI which may be operated by a gaseous fueL'electricity or any other type of heat producing medium. The particular type of heater is not essential to the invention.

Supported upon the heater is a vaporizing pan 32 which is adapted to contain water or other liquid to be vaporized. This pan is provided with an outlet slot 33, which extends entirely along the inner side of the pan adjacent the slotted openings 2 so that vapor produced by heating of the liquid in the pan would be directed out of the opening 33 to the slotted openings 20, in the side wall of the c-abinet, and said vapor introduced for circulation within the cabinet. opening 34 in its top and this opening registers with an opening in the top of the vapcrizing chamber V. They are provided to permit the insertion of a funnel through these registered openings and lling the vaporizing pan 32. stopper element 35 closes the outer opening and prevents vaporA from escaping therefrom.

2 Claims.

This invention relates to bath cabinets and more particularly to that type of cabinet which is adapted to substantially enclose a bather and wherein means is provided for producing a heated 5. vapor.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a bath cabinet which is simply constructed and which can be easily moved and placed in a closet or corner out of the way.

10# Another object of the invention is to provide a vapor' bath cabinet which is arranged to pro- Vide the utmost comfort for the bather during its use.

A further object is to provide for recirculation 15%.. and reheating of the vapor in the cabinet and also to insure proper disposition of the vapor throughout the cabinet.

A still further object is to provide a cabinet which may be easily kept clean, and one which is ,Oprompt and effective in operation and at the same time economical in operation.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference 'characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the various views, and, in which,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation with a portion of the lower left-hand corner broken away;

; Fig. 2 is a side elevation with most of the side panel broken away;

Fig. 3` is a fragmentary sectional view of the interior of the cabinet with the vaporizing chamber in section; and

Fig. 4 is a modified form of seat construction. In the drawing I have illustrated a cabinet structure comprising a rear wall 5, side walls 6 and 'I and a front including corner portions 8 and S and a hinged door I0. This door includes Ypartially all of the surface area of the front wall of the cabinet. The cabinet top is provided with a relatively narrow transverse back strip II which is provided with a centrally located curved c-ut out portion I2 along its front edge. Slanting side members I3 and Ill extend downwardly and forwardly from the back strip II to the upper ends of the corner posts 8 and S at the front of the cabinet. Hinged to the side strips I3 and I4 are door elements I5 and i6 which meet at the central portion of the slanting top of the cabinet and their adjacent upper corners are provided with curved cut outs I and IB, which cooperate with the cut out portion I2 of the back strip to provide a substantially circular opening centrally of the upper rear portion of the cabinet. Rollers The vaporizing If desired the The pan has an provided that the burner or heating element o1 the heater 3| be elevated to some extent above the bottom of the vaporizing chamber somewhat in the manner shown, so that vapor and air in the lower part of the cabinet will be drawn from the cabinet through the slotted openings 2| and into the vaporizing chamber to be reheated and recirculated into the cabinet through the slotted openings 28 with the newly formed vapor issuing from the elongated opening 33 of the upper side of the vapor pan 32. A suitable door 36 is provided in the outer long side of the vaporizing chamber V to give access to the burner and vapor pan as desired.

Around the lower portion of the inside of the main cabinet there is secured a piece of angle iron 3l, which is adapted to support a drainage pan 3S, the latter being provided with a drain cock 39. Supported across the top of the drain pan 33 is a flooring preferably made in two sections and composed of spaced slats 4B. Therefore, when the cabinet is constructed so as to provide for a shower within same, the water from said shower will drain through the grill-like flooring and into the drain pan 38. A chair 4l is provided within the cabinet and this chair includes four legs 42 which are adapted to t down between the spaced slats 40. These legs have at their lower ends a plurality of vertically aligned spaced apertures 43 and I provide a pair oi rods i4 which extend through the aligned openings oi the front and rear legs at each side ol the chair. It will be noted that the actual ends of the rods 44 are bent at right angles so that these bent ends can be turned downwardly to t beneath the space between the slats 45. In this manner I have provided means for adjusting the height of the chair seat with respect to the relatively round opening provided by the cutouts i2, il, and I8 so that persons of different heights may be seated comfortably within the cabinet and their necks will be properly positioned with respect to said substantially rounded opening.

A towel rack 45 extends across the sides and back of the cabinet and it is indicated that this rack be of suicient strength to provide a hand hold for persons getting in and out oi the cabinet and this towel rack may be also of suicient strength to act as a reinforcement of said cabinet. Another rod 45 is provided along the inner side of the side wall 6 to furnish a runner for a slidabie curtain 4l. rIhis curtain extends downwardly to a point at least as low as the lower slotted opening 2|, so that the vaporizing chamber V may be cut off from the cabinet interior. This is provided for use as a shower bath element 48, which, as shown, enters the cabinet to one side of the centrally disposed neck aperture. When the shower is being used the curtain or other suitable covering lil is drawn across the slotted openings 20 and 2l to prevent water from the shower from splashing into the vaporizing chamber. The use of the shower bath element is optional and if a shower is not provided for it may be found that the drain pan 38 is not needed, since the amount oi condensation from the vapor issuing from the Vaporizing chamber is very small. Also, if shower is not provided for, the spaced slatted floor is not used either, there then being a plain floor.

In Fig. 4 there is shown a modified form of seat and seat support. Secured to the side Walls 5l) and 5l of the cabinet is a pair of oppositely disposed boards 49. Upon these boards are mounted the cut-away elements 52 and I have provided pins 53 which are merely for the purpose of preventing a sliding movement relative to the boards 49. The inner faces of the elements 52 are provided with vertically spaced horizontally disposed cleats 54 for supporting the chair seat 55, which has a suitable back 56 mounted upon its rear edge. The cleats extend only part of the way toward the rear wall to space the chair a short distance from the wall. Thus it will be seen that the seat may be adjusted vertically to several different positions to accommodate persons of different heights. The elements 52 are made removable so that they may be cleaned more easily and thus insure greater sanitation for the cabinet.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a vapor bath Cabinet of relatively simple and inexpensive and compact construction in which a vaporized liquid may be introduced into the chamber and recirculated and at the same time reheated. r:This recirculation not only provides for reheating of the air and vapor within the cabinet, but also insures even disposition of vapor throughout the cabinet since ordinarily there would be a much greater concentration of heated vapor in the upper portion of the cabinet and the feet and legs of the bather would receive very little benefit from the treatment.

Furthermore, I have positioned the vaporizing chamber outside of the cabinet itself so there is absolutely no danger of burning of the bather within the cabinet through contact with the heater or' the vaporizing pan, and I have also constructed the vaporizing chamber so that it can be quickly and easily removed when it is desired to push the cabinet into a closet or back into a corner out of the way when not in use. I have also provided means for adjusting two types of seat vertically with respect to the opening in the upper portion of the cabinet so persons of various sizes will be comfortable therein, and the door structure is such that the entire cabinet can be readily opened by pushing from the inside and leaving the top and front of the cabinet unobstructed. This is a desired advantage over cabinets which do not have such simple and easy means of egress and which virtually imprisons the bather inside of the cabinet. 'Ihus no attendant is required.

The cabinet is one which can be kept sanitary with little trouble and it is extremely eiiicient and economical in operation. When the heater is turned on, it will quickly vaporize liquid in the vaporizing pan and this will be circulated and recirculated through all parts of the cabinet, and with the recirculation there is also a reheating of the vapor in the cabinet.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportion of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What is claimed is:

i. In a bathing apparatus, a cabinet having a side Wall, said wall having a pair of spaced apertures positioned one over the other, a vaporizing and heating chamber secured to the outer side of said wall over said apertures and having communication therewith, the lower aperture in said side wall being adjacent and communicating A with the lower portion of said vaporizing and upper portion of said chamber, and heating and vaporizing means in said chamber.

2. In a bathing apparatus, a cabinet having an aperture through one of its Walls and having a pair of oppositely disposed vertically positioned open topped channels located at the sides of said aperture, a casing exteriorly of said cabinet and having an apertured side in contact With said cabinet and communicating with the aperture in said cabinet Wall, a pair of vertical slide elements extending laterally from opposite edges of the open side of said casing and slidably insertable in said channels from the upper ends thereof, and the bottoms of said channels being closed to limit downward sliding movement of said slides therein.

HENRY W. KNOCHE. 

